


The beginning

by No_Diggity



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age - Freeform, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-02 00:53:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6543841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/No_Diggity/pseuds/No_Diggity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles about my Inquisitor.</p><p>The youngest member of the Trevelyan family wakes up in a strange bed, with a ominous mark on her hand and no memory why. She demands to return to the place she last remembers being, to look for signs of her family, who came with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Working title :P

No survivors. That's what Cassandra kept telling her as they raced to the breech. That's what she saw when she stood among the ash, corpses and debris. She smelled the foul stench of dead bodies, and the sickly sweet smell of the demons dissolving into the air, the horrifying charred figures of the victims, their bodies frozen in terror. Days after the explosion and everything still seemed fresh, the air still seemed warm, the scents were still as strong. She moved then as though she was underwater, barely hearing, barely seeing, only vaguely aware of her three companions. She scanned the ground, trying to be cautious and focused, but her fear sped her search.

There was no sign. 

She was afraid to ask, because then it would be real. Then they would really be dead. All of them. Leaving her, alone.  
She had to come back. This was a distraction, and she knew she would never stop dwelling on it until she could see for herself. 

Shortly after she woke at Haven, she had demanded to go back to the temple. This was the price of her cooperation. She would stay, be their figurehead, and preach the holy deeds of this new organization, for a short trip back up the Frostback Mountains.

The way was still littered in demons. Initially Anvesha wanted to go alone, she would have been skilled enough to deal with them by herself if she were in her right mind, they were only wisps after all. But she was not in her right mind. She was slower, less alert, her focus only on one thing, so she was begrudgingly grateful for the help Solas, Varric, and Cassandra offered when she nearly ran headfirst into a group of wisps. She was barely injured, but regretted the action all the same when Cassandra reamed her out for being so foolish. Of course the archer should stay in the rear, she was letting her impatience and fear get the better of her.

"So, how will we know that we've found them? I don't mean to be insensitive, Herald, but not a lot of these bodies are very recognizable" Varric said, surveying the depressing terrain. The words washed over Anvesha for a moment, as she too, looked on in despair. Cassandra looked at her, and gave her a gentle nudge.

"What? Oh, yes. Our family has a Crest." she said in a shakey voice. She cleared her throat before speaking again in a stronger tone. "It is a broad workhorse, of the Clydesdale variety, in a full rear, with lilies bordering the edges. We all wore some kind of ornament with it. Some were buttons, some had a pendent. Mine is a ring" she said, holding her hand out so they could see.

"Well then let us spread out" Cassandra said, all business. " Not too far. Ten feet shall be the maximum" and started off to the right, poking piles of ash with her sword. As they fanned out, she noticed that Solas and Varric were keeping very close to her. She didn't begrudge them for it, and she was too tired and distracted to object.

She focused on not thinking about whose skull she was tossing aside, about how it might be her sister's, or brother's, or even one of their servants who she had always taken for granted. Focused on not thinking about how whenever she breathed she inhaled a little bit of the ash, the ash that was floating off of the charred bodies, about how it might be theirs. Focused on not thinking about the other crests and trinkets she tossed away, about how there were people who would kill for these ornaments, and she threw them aside.

The more she tried to focus on not thinking these thoughts, the more she thought of it, and the more her stomach churned. Ten minutes into the search had her retching into a burnt steel helmet, with Varric rubbing her back. Not much came up, she hadn't been able to eat much more than what Cassandra insisted she eat before scaling a mountain. Solas clumsily offered spells and ointments to help with nausea, but was stopped by a look from Varric, and went off to search not far away from them.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Varric said gently as she wheezed and trembled over the makeshift bucket.  
It took a moment to answer, and not because of her vomiting. "I can't" she finally gasped. As much as she fought them, a tear dripped down her nose, into the bucket.

"You should. You'll feel a lot better" he knelt down beside her and looked at her face. She could do nothing but shake her head, knowing that if she spoke the dam would burst and she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears. Her throat ached with the physical effort of keeping herself composed.

They stayed like that for a while. She stubbornly refused to speak, and he patiently sat next to her, not looking directly at her, but to the horizon, shielding his eyes from the midday sun. Cassandra and Solas continued to search, gradually expanding their search radius.

She slowly got a hold of herself, no longer leaning over the bucket, she sat back on her knees, surveying the area. It was a huge explosion, and the blast radius was even bigger, looking at all of this, she felt less and less sure that she would find any sign.

"I had hope that someone would still be here" she said quietly. Varric turned to look at her. "but looking at this now...there's no way anybody could have survived this." She was emotionally exhausted.  
"You did. There could still be hope" Varric reminded her. 

"Yes, I did, but I was in the fade, only for a few short hours according to the reports. If anyone was also trapped in the fade, they couldn't have survived that. I barely survived it, and it felt like only a minute or two for me."

"How many of them were there"

"My family? I had two older brothers, and five older sisters with me. Plus our servants." She trembled despite the warm air around her and the hot sun beating down.

"What were you all doing here?" He asked.

"Our mother wanted us to be present. She said it was for political savvy, which I'm sure it was, but I think she also wanted us to be close to the divine, to gain favor for our house. I was exploring the temple, and I don't remember anything after that. Whatever happened, it happened while I wasn't around my family." she said, her voice wavering.

"It wasn't your fault" He said gently

"Wasn't it?" she snapped, tears freely flowing "I don't remember what happened, what if it was me, what if I really did do something to cause this" she said before bawling into her unmarked hand, immediately regretting voicing what could easily incriminate her. All was deathly silent save for the howl of the wind and her choking, racked sobs echoing around the peaks. Varric pulled her close to his chest and let her muffle her cries into his body. Cassandra moved to come over and investigate, but Varric motioned for her to go and she seemed to understand the message.

"I don't think you had anything to do with the explosion" he said tenderly. "you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are punishing yourself for something someone else did."

"Why are you comforting me" she weakly sobbed, after she was able to get control of herself "You don't even know me"  
"Well, you're just a kid... and you've lost your whole family-"

"Not my whole family" she sniffed, pushing away from him and sitting back, dabbing at her eyes and nose with her shirt sleeve "My parents are still around, and I have a brother in the circle"

"You've lost enough"

They sat together, listening to the howl of the wind through the peaks, not saying anything. She looked up at him and opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden shout of anger echoed through the valley, which had both Varric and Anvesha up and racing toward Casandra, Solas not far behind. 

Anvesha and Varric had their weapons ready even before they saw Cassandra, who was reduced to acting solely on the defensive against three shades, who relentlessly beat down on her sheild. Holding her ground even under the pressure of three of them, she was occasionally able to injure the one coming at her from the side with her sword. 

Anvesha stopped running to line up a shot and fire, squarely hitting one of the demons in the back. It didn't even interrupt the shades actions, as it once again struck the shield. She cursed and lined up another shot. Varric raced on ahead to get a closer shot as she kept a steady barrage of arrows. The one she was aiming at fell as Solas's barrier blanketed all of them, giving Cassandra the opportunity to risk knocking a shade away with her shield as she struck the other with a killing blow. Varric easily felled the last one in one shot with his powerful crossbow.

"I found something" Cassandra said abruptly, walking up to Anvesha, as if nothing had happened. She held up her hand to reveal a twisted clump of gold , half of the design completely melted, the other half barely recognizable. It looked like it might have been a belt buckle. Anvesha snatched it up and held it closer to her face, searching for any familiar signs. Unfortunately it was too destroyed to know for sure. She looked up at Cassandra.

"Was it... did you find...anybody?" she asked quietly.

"No" Cassandra said plainly "It was on it's own"

Anvesha silently regarded the trinket, thumbing the smooth, cold metal. She wanted to stay and search all night, but she knew nobody would turn up. The explosion consumed everyone inside the temple, excluding herself, and the only thing she would succeed in doing if she stayed is wear herself and everyone else down.

"Thank you for coming with me everyone" she said quietly. "I see now that it was as you said, Cassandra, barren and grim". Their eyes met, and Anvesha offered a polite, sad smile. "I'm sorry for dragging you up here". 

Cassandra hesitated before answering, unsure of what to say under such circumstances. "Yes, well, it's...quite all right".  
"We can stay longer, Ann." Varric said, ignoring a sharp look from Cassandra. 

She clutched the melted clump of metal to her breast "No, it's all right. If we leave now we'll be back by dusk, and we shouldn't stay out any later. I'm getting tired."

"Cullen will want a report, we will need to speak to him before we turn in" Cassandra reminded her as they walked in the direction of Haven.

"I'm sure that can wait until morning, Cassandra" Solas piped in, looking at Anvesha.

"No, that will be fine, It shouldn't take too long" Anvesha said. She later regretted that as she learned that a 'quick meeting' with Cullen would last a good hour.

The four of them trudged back down the mountain, away from the green geyser that loomed over their sanctuary. Anvesha stowed away the ornament in her pocket. Whether or not it belonged to her sister or brother, she would keep it. As a reminder of those who were lost in the tragedy that day.

**Author's Note:**

> I would LOVE any feedback or critique. Don't hold back PLEASE!. 
> 
> Eventually this will be Inquisitor/Iron Bull. When I get there :)  
> Thank you so much for reading!!


End file.
